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Recovery Plan for Mobile River Basin Aquatic Ecosystem

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Recovery Plan for Mobile River Basin Aquatic Ecosystem U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Region Atlanta, Georgia MOBILE RIVER BASIN AQUATIC ECOSYSTEM RECOVERY PLAN Prepared by Jackson, Mississippi Field Office U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Mobile River Basin Coalition Planning Committee for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Southeast Region Atlanta, Georgia Approved: Regional Director, U S if~sh and Wildlife Service Date: ___ 2cW MOBILE RIVER BASIN COALITION PLANNING COMMITTEE Chairman Bill Irby Brad McLane Fort James Corp. Alabama Rivers Alliance Daniel Autry John Moore Union Camp Boise Cascade Matt Bowden Rick Oates Baich & Bingham Alabama Pulp & Paper Council Robert Bowker Chris Oberholster U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service The Nature Conservancy Melvin Dixon Brian Peck Pulp & Paper Workers U.S. Army Corps ofEngineers Roger Gerth Robert Reid, Jr. U.S. Army Corps ofEngineers Alabama Audubon Council Marvin Glass, Jr. John Richburg McMillan Blodel Packaging Corp. USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service John Harris USDANatural Resources Conservation Gena Todia Service Wetland Resources Paul Hartfield Ray Vaughn U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Coosa-Tallapoosa Project Jon Hornsby Glenn Waddell Alabama Department of Conservation Baich & Bingham Maurice James Jack Wadsworth U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Farmer Laurie Johnson Alabama River Corporation ii Recovery plans delineate reasonable actions that are believed to be required to recover and/or protect listed species. Plans published by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), are sometimes prepared with the assistance ofrecovery teams, contractors, State agencies, and other affected and interested parties. Plans are reviewed by the public and are submitted to additional peer review before they are adopted by the Service. Objectives ofthe plan will be attained and any necessary funds made available subject to budgetary and other constraints affecting the parties involved, as well as the need to address otherpriorities. Recovery plans do not obligate other parties to undertake specific tasks and may not represent the views or the official positions or approval of any individuals or agencies involved in developing the plan, other than the Service. Recovery plans represent the official position of the Service only after they have been signed by the Regional Director or Director as approved. Approved recovery plans are subject to modification as dictated by newfindings, changes in species status, and the completion of recovery tasks. By approving this recovery plan, the Regional Director certifies that the data used in its development represent the best scientific and commercial information available at the time it was written. Copies ofall documents reviewed in development ofthe plan are available in the administrative record, located at the Jackson Field Office in Jackson, Mississippi. Literature citations should read as follows: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2000. Mobile River Basin Aquatic Ecosystem Recovery Plan. Atlanta, GA. 128 pp. Additional copies may be purchased from: Fish and Wildlife Reference Service 5430 Grosvenor Lane, Suite 110 Bethesda, Maryland 20814 Phone: 301/492-6403 or 800/582-3421 Fees for recovery plans vary, depending on the number ofpages. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS A Technical/Agency Draft Mobile River Basin Aquatic Ecosystem Recovery Plan (Plan) was prepared by the Service’s Jackson, Mississippi, Field Office, and released for public review in September 1994. Individuals who provided valuable suggestions, comments, and feedback during the initial development ofthe Plan, included: Dr. George Folkerts, AuburnUniversity; Dr. Richard Neves and Noel Burkhead, U.S. Geological Survey; and Dr. Randy Haddock and Don Elder, Cahaba River Society. In December 1994, the Alabama Department ofEconomic and Community Affairs, Office of Water Resources, requested a meeting among the Basin’s stakeholders and the Service to discuss the draft recovery plan, its implementation, private and State concerns with the plan, the Endangered Species Act, and the Service’s past and future actions in the Basin. Participating stakeholders included State and Federal government agencies, environmental organizations, landowners, and numerous business and industry representatives. Bimonthly meetings were conducted over the next 18 months to exchange information concerning the values and status of the Basin’s biota (animal and plant life), human uses and values ofits rivers and watersheds, and current regulations and programs to protect and manage the Basin’s resources. During these discussions, participants agreed to form the Mobile River Basin Coalition to provide a forum for all interest groups who have a stake in the Basin. The purpose ofthe Coalition is to work together to develop and promote good management ofthe Basin’s rivers and streams. Among other activities, the Coalitionhas worked with the Service to review and edit drafts ofthe recovery plan. Numerous individuals, agencies, organizations, and businesses haveparticipated in the Coalition and contributed to this final recovery plan. The information provided in this Plan was compiled from a variety ofsources. All who have contributed to documenting the remarkable diversity of the Mobile River Basin aquatic fauna (animals) and flora (plants), as well as those who now document its decline and work for its recovery, are gratefully acknowledged. The cover illustrations and plates were drawn by Sam Beibers, Beibers Creative Arts, Jackson, Mississippi. The cover illustration depicts, from top to bottom, a goidline darter (Percina aurolineata), Cherokee clubtail dragonfly (Gomphus consanguis), paddlefish (Polyodon spathula), Alabama red-bellied turtles (Pseudemys alabamensis), cahaba Ii lv (Hymenocallis coronaria), and a stirrupshell (Quadrula stapes). iv EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Current Status: The Mobile River Basin (Basin) supports a highly diverse aquatic flora and fauna, especially manifested in its freshwater fishes, mussels, and snails. The Basin’s endemic (native to a region and found nowhere else) fauna includes 40 fishes, 33 mussels, 110 aquatic snails, as well as turtles, aquatic insects, and crustaceans. The fauna and their habitats have been extensively affected over the years by impoundment, channelization, mining, dredging, and pollution from point (specific) and nonpoint (diffuse) sources. As a result, at least 17 mussels and 37 aquatic snails are presumed extinct, most within the past few decades. At the time this recovery plan was released for public review in 1998, there were 32 aquatic animal and plant species in the Basin that were protected under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended (Act). These included 2 turtles, 10 fish, 17 mussels, 1 snail, and 2 plants. Since 1998, an additional seven aquatic species, six snails and the Alabama sturgeon, have received protection under the Act. We will develop an addendum to the Mobile River Basin Aquatic Ecosystem Recovery Plan, which will include specific recovery criteria for the six snails, and make it available for public review and comment in the near future. An additional recovery plan will be developed specifically for the Alabama sturgeon. In the interim, these seven species are directly benefitted by the actions implemented throughthe Mobile River Basin Aquatic Ecosystem Recovery Plan and are included in this final plan. This document is currently the sole recovery plan for 22 aquatic species, including 4 fish, 11 mussels, and 7 snails respectively, as follows (E endangered, T = threatened): Alabama sturgeon (E), Cherokee darter (T), Etowah darter (E), goldline darter (T), Alabama moccasinshell (T), Coosa moccasinshell (E), dark pigtoe (E), fine-lined pocketbook (T), orange-nacre mucket (T), ovate clubshell (E), southern acornshell (E), southern clubshell (E), southern pigtoe (E), triangular kidneyshell (E), upland combshell (E), cylindrical lioplax (E), flat pebblesnail (E), lacy elimia (T), painted rocksnail (T), plicate rocksnail (E), round rocksnail (T), and tulotoma snail (E). For profiles for each ofthese species, see Appendix A ofthis recovery plan. This Plan has also been developed to complement existing recovery plans for the other 17 listed aquatic species in the Basin. Habitat Requirements and Limiting Factors: Each ofthe listed species within the Basin is unique in some aspect ofits life history or habitat requirements, yet two factors are common to all: adaptation to some form offlowing water habitat; and dependence on habitat stability, including substrate (surface where a plant or animal grows, rests, or is attached) and water quality. Activities affecting these basic requirements represent the primary obstacles to survival and recovery for most ofthe Basin’s listed species. Recovery Objectives: To protect the Basin’s native aquatic fauna and flora through aquatic ecosystem management (managing for all aquatic resources on a basin-wide scale). Specific recovery objectives for the 22 species are as follows: Tulotoma snail - reclassify from endangered to threatened, and delist the species. v Goldline darter - delist. Cherokee ler - delist. Etowah - delist. 11 mussel species - neither reclassification nor delisting appear to be a realistic goal for any ofthese species at this time. Preventing the extinction ofthose listed as endangered, and arresting the continuing decline ofthose listed as threatened are the recovery objectives for these species. Alabama sturgeon - to be developed. Six snail species - to be developed. Recovery Criteria:
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